content guidelines

story645 · story645 · commit da3c610a879a · 2023-12-17T21:45:45.000-05:00
diff --git a/doc/devel/document.rst b/doc/devel/document.rst
@@ -1045,6 +1045,82 @@ subdirectory, but  :file:`galleries/users_explain/artists` has a mix of
 any ``*.rst`` files to a ``:toctree:``, either in the ``README.txt`` or in a
 manual ``index.rst``.
 
+
+.. _writing-user-guide:
+
+Write user guide documentation
+==============================
+
+The pages in the :ref:`users-guide-index` are a mix of :ref:`ReST <writing-rest-pages>`
+and :ref:`sphinx gallery <writing-examples-and-tutorials>` pages and should follow the
+respective formatting conventions. The goal of the user guide is to explain how
+Matplotlib works to someone who is unfamiliar with the library. To maintain the
+consistency and cohesiveness of the user guide, documentation that is contributed to
+this section should conform to the following guidelines:
+
+Purpose: Explain how Matplotlib works
+-------------------------------------
+
+The aim of the user guide is to teach the concepts on which the Matplotlib API is
+developed so that users can understand how to fit the individual components of the
+library together. Therefore, content should be concept oriented rather than focused on
+specific tasks, e.g. *What is a `Line2D` artist?* rather than *How do I make a yellow
+squiggly line?*
+
+
+Scope: Matplotlib objects and modules
+-------------------------------------
+
+Many concepts in Matplotlib assume a grounding in visualization, statistics, and
+other topics to understand how they work. These concepts should be
+contextualized using common terminilogy, but the focus should not stray from the
+Matplotlib topic, e.g. *`Line2D` objects take as input either pairwise coordinates
+(x,y) or y with an implicit x and assume that the input data is continuous.*
+Here pairwise and continuous are not defined because they are assumed to be
+known by the audience, but are used to explain what data ``Line2D`` accepts.
+
+
+Audience: new users
+-------------------
+
+The audience for this guide are readers who are getting introduced to using Matplotlib
+through this guide; therefore, content should be written with the assumption that the
+reader does not yet know what Matplotlib calls a given visualization task nor
+how any task is accomplished in Matplotlib. For example, each document should first
+introduce or define the object/module/concept that it is discussing and why it is
+important for the reader. e.g. *The ``Line2D`` class is an abstraction of a line and
+the ``LineCollection`` class is an abstraction of a set of lines. ``Line2D`` and
+``LineCollection`` objects manage the properties and behavior of almost every line in
+an image. This means that one way to modify a line is to call methods on its underlying
+object.*
+
+
+Teaching style: Chunking
+------------------------
+
+The material is introduced in small, usually one change or task at a time, chunks to
+keep focus on the specific line of code enabling the given task. The aim is that by
+reducing cognitive load, it will be easier for users to learn what each specific object
+does and how it behaves. The goal is that gaining a conceptual understanding of
+Matplotlib's API will make it easier for a user to navigate the rest of the
+documentation.
+
+For example, here the line object is introduced, then there is
+one example of using a method on the object, then there is a link out to further
+functionality::
+
+  For example, here the ``plot`` method returns a line object ``ln``::
+
+    ln, _ = plt.plot([1,2,3])
+
+  One of the properties of a line is its color. It can be modified using the
+  ``set_color`` method of ``Line2D``::
+
+    ln.set_color('orange')
+
+  For a full list of methods see `~.Line2D`
+
+
 Miscellaneous
 =============
 
